Diving boat capsizes in Komodo National Park: search for instructor continues

The wooden pinisi boat KM Feronia crashed in Indonesia's Komodo National Park near Tatawa Besar Island. There were 25 passengers on board, 21 of whom were foreigners, as well as five crew members. The boat was returning to the Labuan Bajo marina after diving at Manta Point, but while passing through a section with strong whirlpools, the captain lost control, after which the boat listed sharply to port and sank.

The crew managed to deploy a life raft, thanks to which 29 people got out of the water, three passengers suffered minor injuries. Veronica Beatrix Jessica, a 23-year-old local divemaster from Jakarta, remains missing. According to the West Manggarai District Water Police, at the time of the incident, the girl was in a locked toilet and did not have time to get out before the hull sank.

The rescue operation, coordinated by the Maumere SAR service, involved 63 people, including units from the naval base, police and divers from the P3KOM association. The investigation is establishing the causes of the disaster: the ship had a valid seaworthiness certificate and had only been in operation for two months, but the combination of a narrow hull with a high cabin superstructure could have caused a critical loss of balance in the whirlpools.